Curling - WTF?!
So, picture the scene - Flintie decides to catch up on some Olympic action whilst on the 'hamster-wheel' (AKA turbo trainer) - cool, bit of elite sporting action to help me get through 2x20' FTP/5x2' Vo2 etc, etc.
Whats on? Bloody Curling! - I'm sorry, I just don't get it! 
I know its popular in Canada, the Nordics & it seems (from a UK perpective) Scotland - is it really a sport or just a past-time? Whats next, snooker & darts perhaps in the summer games?
No offence to any Curling fans in the Haus - certainly didn't make quality pain-cave fodder............ or is it me?
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Yes. I dont understand this at all as an Olympic sport, but I admit it may be my lack of understanding. I think a Wikipedia adventure is in hand.
GV
I third that opinion...I put curling, NASCAR, darts, archery, etc. into a catagory of 'other' sports. These don't require athletic ability as much as some coordination. I think they MIGHT be 'sports'.
Don't be a hater for curling. It's at one end of the bell curve of "sport"; it still involves physical activity, training, teamwork and a looooong time to master.
I got into curling watching this Olympics, even looking into buying a set of used stones so we could play on the local ponds when they freeze over. 4K used? WTF? Maybe not....
In the end we decided to do it Island-style: we'll stash pumpkins in the fall and use shrub brushes on sticks for friction. Funky fun for families.
I love curling, and it's a sport. Like bowling.
I like the people. There's humility there. The curlers just want to slide stuff, compete and maybe go have a LaBatts later. I'll bet they like ice fishing too.
The more I see of Lindsay Vonn (and I've seen enough already) the more I like the curlers.
I dated a girl for years who came from a huge curling family. Like, Canadian curling royalty, if there's such a thing. Anyhow, she had to stop because of some ankle issue. Every time her family members would earnestly mention her curling career was cut short due to a tragic curling training injury, I had to stifle laughter.
And curlers have a surprising lack of sense of humour about mocking them yelling "hard!" and "hurry!!"
(This is unrelated to the ex-GF.)
For me, I just could not believe the amount of coverage the sport go during the games. The #hrs on TV as a percentage of actual curling fans was just off the charts, I imagine, compared to millions just scratching their heads and saying wtf.
Seriously, i was up late a few nights ago and ended up watching about an hour of Denmark vs. Scotland women's curling. I still have no idea what I was watching but it was captivating.
P.S. Hey I bet that sheet of Ice keeps the beer really cold!
That said I was captivated by the Canadian- Sweden men's match. I thought the idea was to hit that bull's eye, but then again, Canada had all the stones and still lost the point. So I did not get that at all.
But I did laugh when the commentator started poking fun at the Swede teams pants.
It's so weird and wacky, and rolls out every four years for it's big moment in the sun. I like how ancient a game it is. But, yeah, I have to agree about the inordinate coverage. Is it an Olympic "sport"? Compare it to the finish of that 50k xc-ski race and you tell me.
Now don't go hatin' on me, but I'm not big on that aerial trick skiing either. Sure, there's a ton of athleticism, but I think it's super boring and more of a Winterfest carnival act than an "Olympic" sport. That parallel racing? What's with that?
My pool is next to a curling rink. The curlers and the swimmers eyeball each other in the parking on the way to our respective fringe sports and think to themselves, "freaks."
Of course, they can drink beer when they're competing, and we just pee on ourselves.
By the way...I agree with Linda about the "X-treme" garbage that has made it into the winter olympics. Might as well bring skateboarding into the summer olympics.
I understand that the EN gang is a fun loving bunch and many of the comments on curling is in jest. However, I do want to mention my perspective on sports.
I think that as endurance athletes, we have very little room to talk when it comes to action and excitement. For those less enthused about our sport, watching a running race or a triathlon is pretty boring stuff. Rarely do we have exciting, close finishes. If someone passes another at the 24 mile point of Kona we are over the top in glee. However, for the non-endurance athlete junkie, this is really just the end of a long, slow, boring race day of watching individuals slowly crumble.
I have come to appreciate all sports and the effort that goes into them to really become the best in the world. We may laugh at other sports, and they at us, but give one of those sports a try. Let’s make it easy – try horseshoes. A world class horseshoe tosser will leave us in the dust as we try to get a handle on just hitting the sand box.
Curlers, golfers (and even those strangely costumed ice dancers) and many other less than strenuous athletes are still athletes. They work for years to be the very best at what they do, and leave untold numbers behind who will never, ever get even close to the top.
So I watched every moment of the Olympics possible. Most of the sports are ones that I pay absolutely no attention to, except once every four years – and then I revel in them and in the excellence of the athletes who compete in those sports. Each of those athletes (even the curlers) are artists of the highest order willingly providing their art on the world's center stage every few years so.
Sport and athleticism is truly a wonder and brings out the very best in a select few. The rest of us can watch in wonder and awe and be thankful that we are alive and living through such a stupendous, phenomenal moment. It truly is excellence in action.
Olympics? What? I thought we were talking about curling irons. My wife has straight hair.
For the record, I think Julia Mancuso is better looking than Lindsey Vonn. Plus, all the OVER-exposure of Vonn made her less attractive.
Curling is from Scotland - and if it's not Scottish...IT'S CRRRRAAAAP! (I can say that, being a wee bit Scottish myself)
@Al - ALL the comments on curling I think were in jest! Hey, its an olympic sport now and they must spend hours upon hours practicing - but, IMO, it isnt 'worthy' of an olympic sport or the air-time.
You can't even suggest that its inclusion is due to its mass appeal - I've personally never seen or heard of a curling rink in the UK for example, must be all in Scotland.
Certainly can't fit your criteria of 'Sport and athleticism is truly a wonder and brings out the very best in a select few.' Whats athletic about it?
Sure, if it gets kids out from in front the TV, internet, X-box etc then I'm all for it.
Just wait, 2016 summer olympics to include Poker!!
I think a sport, at least at the Olympic level, needs to have athleticism and/or hand-eye/body coordination. All of the skating events (yes, even ice dancing, though it's underwhelming compared to figure skating) would count cuz no doubt they are fit and coordinated. I think high risk of death also counts - any of the sliding events, and jumping stuff (aerial whatever, snowboard half-pipe, etc).
However, any event that you can drink beer while doing it, and likely still do pretty well, has to be taken out of the category of a sport. In this unqualified category I'd put billiards, bowling, and curling. I could see myself having a blast with a group of friends on a frozen pond with them stones, brooms and a few cases of beer...but it's not a sport.
I would have to agree with Rich on that point. Any sport you can drink beer in is not a sport. Now, if they come up with endurance curling where they go for 17 hours and are sipping Infinit; that would be a sport.
GV
[BEGIN Rant]
I have a bias towards any athletic activity being included in the Olympics that violates these precepts:
So I don't like anything that has style points and subjective judging, which eliminates one of the biggest winter sports TV draws (figure skating) and one of the biggest summer draws (diving.) I don't like how team sports can be the result of 'luck of the draw' in terms of which teams one faces, and how referees can inordinately impact an event (1972 men's basketball anyone?)
Let me state that many of the athletes in Olympic activities that violate my bias are atheltically amazing, no doubt. But at the end of the day I prefer an activity where one can say "he/she won by 0.005 seconds" rather than "the Austrian judge totally missed that slip-up on the double axle and that score propelled him/her to the win". No. NO. NO! That's just wrong, it's completely unobjective and with a lot these activities if you blink at the wrong time you miss something as a judge. Honestly we can see the mistakes in super slow motion, but how much is the human eye really catching in real time on those X-games-esque activities?
Is triathlon boring to watch live? Hell yes! Thank goodness for NBC's editing staff. Is watching the marathon live boring? Absolutely. But at the end of the day I know that person who one each was FASTER objectively and the Lithuanian judge had nothing to do with the outcome.
[END Rant]
Okay - totally crazy - I just found out there's a curling club that meets 3 miles from my house!
http://www.licurling.com/
I will go check it out at least once, probably on the way back from the bar.
Tony- I understand many of your points- but I think you need to reconsider the exact phrasing of your first criteria. By that definition things like rowing, cycling, speed skating (team persuit) where a team competes together (not a relay) at one time towards an objectively measurable criteria would not be included in the Olympics either.
On second thoughts.............!
Go. I bet it's a blast. Any game where you can side around on the ice, yell at teammates to sweep the friggin ice would be a blast. No end of drinking opportunities as well.
Finally, I gotta say, many of the women were pretty damn cute. Didn't care for the Netherlands (pants and skirts? What's up with that?).